Firebug

No historic chattels, old photos or memorabilia.
Nothing has historic value for us to remember.
The sheds are old and rusted on our farm just out of town;
our house is not long new since the old one was burnt down.

I often think about our lead up by putting up a trouble sign, 
when we as kids so full of hype one day had crossed the line,
when the four of us all boys whose age’s fell from twelve to six,
went on a rampage of disaster and left a trail for dad to fix.

My oldest brother he was wicked. He had a scheming mind
that got us younger ones in trouble from what he left behind.
He'd set up a situation where, that made ‘bells’ surely ring.   
He was never ever caught so it’s us who felt the sting.

However - somewhere down the line, the cunning can get careless,
and us junior followers can be the victims now ‘God Bless’. 
For it was in our fathers shed he found matches laying 'round,
and made things out of paper; then burnt them to the ground.

At one stage down the paddock where the grass was thick and dry,
he just lit one match and the flames were crackling to the sky.
We laughed and got excited watching, the earth turn black as night,
then he went off looking for something else that he could light.

There it was laying there; the family cat out in the sun.
And it became our brother’s target when it didn’t up and run.
We watched him as he held the cat and gave it a petrol douse!  
But after he had lit it - the cat ran underneath our house.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2019

Poem

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Dietrich Avatar
September 8, 2019 at 11:25 AM
a fave by the way. So creatively worked through.
Dietrich Avatar
September 8, 2019 at 11:24 AM
OMG the way you ended it!!! It made full circle back to the beginning and i realized how the house burnt down. and OMG, the poor cat!! Is your brother a serial killer or something? That is how it all starts, by killing animals!! I loved this, by the way, and I am taking it this is a true story by a remark I see below. honestly, is your brother right in the mind??
Laurie Avatar
September 12, 2019 at 6:34 PM
Hello Andrea … even though this really occurred on a wheat property in the Mallee, it wasn't us thank God. I used poetic licence to put the event into rhyme. In one sense I laughed, but the cruelty to the cat took the gloss off that. Thank you for the fave Andrea - Lindsay
Proxenos Avatar
September 7, 2019 at 1:57 PM
Younger and bolder, wiser and older. Great poem Lindsay as always! Hugs, Jennifer.
Laurie Avatar
September 7, 2019 at 10:30 PM
Thank you once again Jennifer. Your statement rings absolute truth and nowadays thought precedes action - once again, thank you Jennifer - Lindsay
Salehi Avatar
September 3, 2019 at 11:41 PM
...and then what ?? Did it burned the house?
Laurie Avatar
September 7, 2019 at 10:27 PM
Hello Pashang … thanks for reading and leaving a comment. The house burnt to the ground and a very irate father threatened blue murder - thank you Pashang - Lindsay
Leffanta Avatar
September 3, 2019 at 6:32 PM
What fire did to Rome should deter everyone, but alas, it is nothing compared to fire in the eyes miscreants! Aloha! Rico
Laurie Avatar
September 7, 2019 at 10:24 PM
Fire like water attracts kids. Fire though can change from a harmless flame to a roaring out of control fire in a flash. I'm telling you this from experience - catch you soon Rico - Lindsay
Cunningham Avatar
September 3, 2019 at 2:50 AM
That's eight lives left, we certainly do crazy things' in our younger days , Hope he and the house survived. Tom
Laurie Avatar
September 7, 2019 at 10:21 PM
The house didn't Tom, and I think the father is still chasing his son twenty five years later. Great times in our young days but we did things that I would never do now, like many of us - thanks once again Tom - Lindsay
Mchattie Avatar
September 2, 2019 at 10:08 PM
Some kids are just not right in the head. The stories people tell about my Dad as a child just make my head spin. My friends as a child were pretty low key. Have a great day.
Laurie Avatar
September 7, 2019 at 10:15 PM
G'day David … sometimes I wonder friends and I survived our childhood days. Kids in the country were forever experimenting with some near disasters. Thanks for commenting David - Lindsay
Wolf Avatar
September 2, 2019 at 7:48 PM
What a wild tale. Hard to imagine what goes through boys' minds sometimes. I knew kids in their teens who put cherry bombs up the rear ends of chipmunks. What were they thinking?! Anyway, good one, Lindsay! :) gw
Laurie Avatar
September 7, 2019 at 10:11 PM
Hello Gershon … based on fact. This event happened a few years ago at Tempy, a wheat farming district in the Mallee. The boys weren't thinking Gershon, but, boys love to experiment - thanks Gershon - Lindsay
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